My snake is barely ever on her heat mat!

[jezflyer7]

She's always on the cool side and it's rather cold where she's kept and she seems healthy enough, but I'm just worried.

 

[Snowman]

sounds fine for this time of year......... I'm just waiting for the "my snake isnt eating" threads to start appearing, like they do this time of year.

 

[l3atman]

snakes are generally really good at regulating their body temperature, when you hold her does she feel cold?

 

[jezflyer7]

She does feel slightly cold when I hold her

 

[l3atman]

what kind of python do you have and do you know what the temperature is over the heat mat

 

[jezflyer7]

The heat mat is set at about 27 degrees, and she's a Murray Darling Carpet python

 

[Lizzy90]

sounds fine for this time of year......... I'm just waiting for the "my snake isnt eating" threads to start appearing, like they do this time of year.

Iv noticed they already have started appearing.

 

[Fantazmic]

get yurself a temp gun you can buy them on ebay for about $20....it is the best investment I have ever made.....because if youa re worried about your snake you can actually take your snakes temperature and makre sure they are not below the recommended minimum....you are right to worry temperature is everything and over time if temp is not right it can induce illness

 

[benjamind2010]

sounds fine for this time of year......... I'm just waiting for the "my snake isnt eating" threads to start appearing, like they do this time of year.

Hahaha, beat me to the punch!

Both of my males have nary a care in the world about the food I've offered them...nah, dun wannit!...so it just goes to Dickyknee's female, who devours them. She took 2 rats last week.

 

[junglelove]

is your heat mat set on a thermostat??? they just keep heating up it is probably to hot for her to sit on heat mats are crap i use one occasionally but monitor it closly i left it on one day to see how high it got to and it was 47 degrees!!! i dont like them at all.

 

[Blake182]

well my female chldrens python is always on the cold side
but then i put a bigger hide in both ends still on the cold side
more paper towl and she in betweet 3 pice's of paper towl on the worm side O_0
and why do snakes stop feeding at this time of year

 

[CaptainRatbag]

+1 buy a laser thermometer gun, find out the actual temp of the heatmat/warm end. She is obviously not happy with the temp at the warm end, maybe drop the temp a degree or 2 on the thermostat, see if she likes that better?
Are you running a thermostat and is the probe on or just above the heatmat?

 

[Bluetongue1]

well my female chldrens python is always on the cold side

but then i put a bigger hide in both ends still on the cold side
more paper towl and she in betweet 3 pice's of paper towl on the worm side O_0
and why do snakes stop feeding at this time of year

With respect to hides – snakes prefer a snug fit. It should be able to feel the roof and one side. You would be amazed at the small spaces they often occupy but it does two things for them: a) makes them feel secure because nothing else can fit in there to get them; b) helps them to conserve heat and moisture.

The temperatures outside are dropping. Snakes in nature are getting ready for winter. If they eat now and cannot digest the meal fully then it is likely to rot in their gut and kill them, so they stop feeding while still active (roughly mid-April on). Even though captive snakes are kept warm, many will respond to the changing day lengths as their cues to the approach of winter. Antaresia species are particularly well known for doing this. So even with maintained heating they stop eating. Some individuals and different species as a whole will continue to eat year round if the heat is maintained. It is this difference that often causes the concern people express. Your snake will do what your snake does... and you don’t need to worry about what somebody else’s snake is or is not doing.

Hatchling should be kept at normal temps and regularly offered food through their first winter. Also, sick snakes should never be brumated. But other than that, the choice is yours, bearing in mind that nearly all reptiles require winter cooling to produce viable eggs or sperm required for successful breeding.

Blue

 

[africancichlidau]

If ya snake is always in the cool end then the hot end is probably too hot, If your snake is always in the hot end then your hot end is probably too cold. Watch what your animal does and think about why it does it. It is also a very good idea to get a good book rather than listen to the often incorrect information on the internet. Where is your thermostat probe located? What size is your enclosure? What is the average ambient temperature of the room in which the enclosure is kept? Do you have a thermometer in both the cool and the hot end of the enclosure? If so what are the temperatures?
Give us a little more information along these lines and we may be able to help.